POPLAR BLUFF – The Three Rivers baseball team held a doubleheader for their home opener on Monday and came away with a sweep over Shawnee to bring the Raiders back to .500 at 3-3 so far in the young season.
"I'm really happy with how the guys competed," Three Rivers coach Tyler Smith said. "It's always good to play at home and to get a win on your home field. Especially after the snow storm last week and to be able to get out on the field after that."
The Raider offense found ways to manufacture runs and it paid off in both games.
"The bats have been a strong point for us so far," Smith said. "But the way our offense works, we have some guys that can run and steal bases, we can bunt and move runners. We can put runs together in many different ways and we showed it in the second game with only five hits."
On the bump, the Three Rivers pitchers were able to stay out of trouble and managed the Shawnee offense.
"The pitchers took a big step forward (Monday)," Smith said. "With how our staff is made, we don't have a ton of guys that'll blow it by people. We've got to be able to hit the zone, keep the balls down and keep the walks to a minimum."
The Raiders took the first game by a score of 12-2 in six innings as they took advantage of a big fifth inning, scoring eight runs with two outs to go up 10-2. Three Rivers were able to end it early via the 10-run mercy rule with a couple of runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Third baseman Kolton Poorman drove in three RBI's while going 2-for-4 and designated hitter Logan McIntyre went 3-for-4 and driving in a couple of runs. Starter Noah Burkey was the winning pitcher of record for the ballgame.
The Raiders took the second game 10-3 capped off by a three-run homer off the bat of Trent Buchanan in the bottom of the sixth to put the game out of reach for Shawnee. Michael White earned the win starting on the bump for the Raiders.
Three Rivers will be back at it on Tuesday with a twin bill on the road against Williams Baptist JV.
Robert Augsdorfer - Daily American Republic